Man threw girlfriend into fire, court rules

He faces sentence of up to 45 years

A Kane County judge Wednesday convicted 38-year-old Michael Dodson of heinous battery for throwing his girlfriend into a pile of her burning clothes during a quarrel last year.

Dodson, of the 7N000 block of Watseka Avenue, St. Charles Township, faces up to 45 years in prison when Judge Donald Hudson sentences him Nov. 12. Hudson acquitted Dodson of attempted murder, which carried a maximum sentence of 30 years, after a two-day trial.

"Obviously in our society, someone is not entitled to throw someone else into a raging fire," Hudson said while issuing his verdict.

Assistant State's Atty. Greg Sams noted that with the conviction for heinous battery, Dodson faces as long a sentence as if he had been convicted of all the charges.

"The people are very satisfied with the verdict," Sams said. "We thought it was appropriate and well-reasoned."

Public Defender David Kliment said Dodson regrets the incident. "He is sorry that it happened. He is sorry she got hurt," Kliment said.

After believing he saw his girlfriend, Tammy Marozik, performing a sexual act on another man, Dodson testified he set her clothes on fire in the yard in front of their apartment.

When Marozik noticed the fire, she confronted Dodson and the two began arguing. Marozik testified she did not remember how she ended up in the flames on Nov. 3, but Dodson said she fell in after he accidentally pushed her. She suffered second-degree burns to her face, shoulder and chest, and third-degree burns to her hand that required a skin graft.

The judge said he did not believe a witness who said Dodson put his foot on Marozik's back and held her in the fire. The witness did not say that to police after the incident, and no other evidence corroborated that statement, Hudson noted.

Kliment said he will appeal Hudson's decision that a caustic or flammable substance caused Marozik's injuries because Dodson used gasoline to start the fire. Kliment argued this element of the crime would apply only if Dodson threw gasoline on Marozik, then lit it.